Community Forums

marine66 · 09-10-2012, 01:13 PM

I just had all the solenoids replaced for the second time in 8 years on my itasca suncruiser. apparently the solenoids have a problem and overheat and blow the battery and go out...

next... my auxillary switch doesnt work... power goes to it because i can hear the clicking but it doesnt turn anything on

tom chelbana · 09-10-2012, 02:45 PM

We have been very pleased with HWH on 3 different motor homes. The product and the customer service has been great. Wonder if the wiring is the problem with the installation?

Wizard · 09-10-2012, 03:10 PM

X2 with 3 different motorhomes with HWH jacks and slides. Never a problem.

Why would the solenoids stay energized long enough to get hot. The power to mine is off after the jacks are down and the slides are out. Are you sure you don't have a power problem.

Not sure what you mean by " blows the battery" ??????

Jerry

djbmsu · 09-10-2012, 06:11 PM

I think you just need to dig deeper into why they are failing. HWH Techs I am sure would be available to assist you in checking the system.
I just had a Jack fail on a 14 month old Tiffin RED and HWH walked me through several things to try then sent me ,"at no charge" a new front jack.

TXiceman · 09-10-2012, 07:48 PM

We had HWH on two motorhomes and both were great. One did have a valve start leaking and HWH sent a replacement.

Ken

dons2346 · 09-10-2012, 08:07 PM

I have a problem with the "blows the battery" part.

Dunner · 09-10-2012, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marine66

I just had all the solenoids replaced for the second time in 8 years on my itasca suncruiser. apparently the solenoids have a problem and overheat and blow the battery and go out...

next... my auxillary switch doesnt work... power goes to it because i can hear the clicking but it doesnt turn anything on

Explain "blow the battery" and what are you expecting to turn on with the auxiliary switch?

Mr_D · 09-10-2012, 09:05 PM

Have had HWH's on three MH's so far, never even had to replace a spring yet and I have the old style straight springs and after 10 years they still work fine.

Mr_D · 09-10-2012, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marine66

I just had all the solenoids replaced for the second time in 8 years on my itasca suncruiser. apparently the solenoids have a problem and overheat and blow the battery and go out...

next... my auxillary switch doesnt work... power goes to it because i can hear the clicking but it doesnt turn anything on

You have an electrical problem within your RV, not a problem with the HWH jacks!
The aux switch just connects the house batteries to the starting batteries in case one set is low. This will usually get you going again.

marine66 · 09-10-2012, 11:21 PM

I have had to replace 3 batteries in 5 years the last 3 happened in the past 1 year and we didnt even drive the itasca... I think we used it once for 8 days and it sat the rest of the time. I would go up and cycle the levelers, slide outs etc.

When I took it into to get it fixed another 2004 itasca pulled in behind me and they had blown out all their levelers and battery.

I called the rep and talked to other people and found that if a battery gets low enough that it is not producing enough amps it causes the solenoids to overheat and go out.. and vice versa.. if the solenoids get hot enough it could blow a battery..

And it happened to me and many other people.

the factory said it happens but I am out of my warranty. So I am out of luck.

They acknowledged the problem...

So be careful and make sure your batteries never discharge to a point that they dont produce ample amps...

Quote:

Originally Posted by marine66

I just had all the solenoids replaced for the second time in 8 years on my itasca suncruiser. apparently the solenoids have a problem and overheat and blow the battery and go out...

next... my auxillary switch doesnt work... power goes to it because i can hear the clicking but it doesnt turn anything on

Mr_D · 09-11-2012, 12:28 AM

Why are you having so much battery trouble?
We had four Interstate U-2200's that went just short of 10 years and I only changed them because we were headed out for a trip and I didn't want trouble on the trip. I replaced them with the same brand/model since the last set did so well.
I did add 4 oz of mineral oil to each cell (2 oz for 12 volt and 4 oz for 6 volt). That cut way down on offgassing and corrosion in the battery box.
We have a 5 watt solar panel and I keep the rig plugged in 100% of the time when stored.
Also, my manual says to have the generator running or be plugged into shore power before leveling.

Dunner · 09-11-2012, 04:56 AM

marine66, what are you using to keep your batteries charged and has the water level ever gotten low enough that the plates are exposed? Some factory supplied converters and inverters are not 3 stage chargers and can "cook" a battery and boil the water out if left turned on all the time.

If the battery is not fully charged and you "hold" the leveler switch on or try to level for a long period of time, it could over-heat the solenoids. The solenoids don't blow a battery, it's not being properly charged that blows them.

If left sitting and not driven, the batteries will not get properly charged. Almost all motor homes charge both sets of batteries when the engine is running.

az bound · 09-11-2012, 05:27 AM

What the factory is telling you is that the damage was self inflicted by operating the system under low voltage conditions, not as a result of any defect in the HWH system.

awwall · 09-11-2012, 09:50 AM

Correct me if I am wrong here. This is a DC solenoid. By Ohm's law if voltage goes down, so does current. I can understand the solenoid not working, but not burning up or "blowing" a battery. These should work the same way as your car. You don't burn up a solenoid from a low battery, you hear it click from low voltage.